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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

"But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

"Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

- Luke 6:27-38

In yesterday's reading, we read that Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor. And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all. Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets."

"But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back." One thing can be seen clearly from grouping these teachings together: they are highly pro-active. In other words, Jesus is talking about taking the initiative and setting a tone. We are not simply people who respond to the world in kind and allow others to define our actions and character for us. To love an enemy doesn't mean one approves of everything that is done, no matter how evil it may be! No, to love an enemy is like loving a child -- one wants what's best for them, and the best is never bad or sinful behavior. But it sets a tone, it gives us an orientation. To do good is to do good - and good doesn't sanction evil: we remember that a rebuke from the Lord is an act of love. The teachings on turning the other cheek and those that follow set a tone: Christ I believe is not asking us to be depleted of all worldly goods nor simply to be victims, but rather to rise above our circumstances, to do what is best to be peacemakers, but most of all to take stock in all circumstances and not simply to return automatically the behavior we find in the world.

"And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise." This is a very important statement, and if we think about it, one that really invites us to think. If we're behaving badly, do we want correction? If we have been misunderstood, do we not want understanding? If we are confused, do we want to be enlightened? One assumes that those who are His disciples -- that is, those to whom He directs these teachings -- would wish to understand themselves in this sense. It also guides us to the discerning practice of mercy.

"But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful." Again, Christ's statements here ask us to think: What is loving? And to do good is an important thing also to consider: here, it is a word that is somewhat akin to virtue, we are asked to do good according to what God thinks is good. So we are in fact invited to really consider what is "good" in all situations; we're not asked simply to indulge what is evil, nor the will of "the world." But in all things, Jesus refers us back to the Kingdom, and back to God, the Most High. That is where our allegiance lies, and in this we don't simply return "kind for kind" nor automatically respond to events or people as the world would seem to expect us or teach us to do. We must consider in mercy and in righteousness what is proper and best.

"Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." My study bible has the following note here: "The Kingdom of God calls us to a way of life in which mercy abounds. We must: (1) Refrain from judging. By definition, human judgment precludes mercy. (2) Do not condemn. Condemnation causes us to depart from mercy. (3) Forgive. Forgiveness can only come out of a heart of mercy. (4) Give. When we give abundantly we receive from God in the same measure." To my mind, refraining from judgment means that we give up our judgment to God. Forgiveness is similar: it doesn't mean we approve of everything others do, but it does mean that we turn to God and give up the situation to the Lord. Our real "exchange" is in the hands of God, and this is where Jesus is pointing in all of His teachings. Just like in teaching about "giving in secret" in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus turns our eyes to God as our medium of exchange. So all our relationships are mediated by and through this Kingdom.

In today's reading, Jesus teaches, "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." All of His teachings in today's reading do one thing and do it very forcefully, like a slap on the cheek! He turns us to the Kingdom of God, to the rule of God in our lives. God becomes the medium for true righteousness. If I give and expect nothing in return, the One who truly returns my good gift is God. It is a kind of medium of exchange. It is quite telling that the most direct statement we have that summarizes these teachings is "with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." Jesus changes our focus from what the world would give, (that is, from a worldly perspective) to what God gives, to the perspective which includes our membership in this Kingdom. And that is, indeed, a radical shift of our point of view. The teachings about those who would harm us or steal from us are quite radical, and I believe they are meant to be so, in order to teach us an important point: that we turn our attention purely to what God wants of us in every situation. I don't believe Christ is calling us to be victims nor impoverished paupers simply for the sake of being poor. Neither is He suggesting that there is no place for the work of public legal institutions of justice. He's grabbing our attention, and teaching us about what is most important. His disciples are to be ambassadors of the Kingdom, and thereby their loyalty and allegiance isn't to the worldly ways in which the world works and thinks, but behavior in accordance with what love teaches, and the goodness or virtue that God teaches. God is the one who returns to us what we give in this scenario and teaching, and it is to God we therefore owe our allegiance as children of the Most High. The practice of mercy does not preclude justice nor does it exclude truth; we don't sanction unrighteous behavior. But we are called "out of the world" in order to practice love and goodness the way that God calls us to do, and to remember that our real exchange is from God, as "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning" (James 1:17). Let us remember that, ultimately, to pray for our enemies is to pray for God's love and truth to be manifest in them, as well as ourselves. This is what is truly "good," the greatest gift of all in Christ's perspective.

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